Kiszla: Nuggets should stay involved in Kevin Love talks

No matter how high the odds are stacked against them, the Nuggets must stay in the bidding for star Minnesota forward Kevin Love until the bitter end, for one very basic reason.

Without one of the top 15 players in the league, an NBA team has zero realistic chance of winning a championship.

At age 25, Love is definitely among the top 15 players in the NBA, and could craft a career worthy of the Hall of Fame during the next decade.

Nobody on the current Nuggets roster is now -- or ever will be -- among the top 15 players in the NBA.

Is there any chance Denver could offer Minnesota more in trade than Golden State, Chicago and Boston, teams widely believed to be in hot pursuit of Love?

Go ahead, peruse the rosters of the Warriors, Bulls and Celtics. Who's the most talented player any of those teams would be willing to surrender in trade? Then, I defy you to tell me any of those expendable players - jump-shooter Klay Thompson? Old-and-overpaid Carlos Boozer? Work-in-progress Kelly Olynyk? - has more upside and is more reasonably priced than Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried.

Yes, if the Nuggets acquired Love, he could conceivably bolt after one season as a free agent. Or the Nuggets could prove to Love that they are serious about building a title-contending team around him.

Would it be a gamble? Without a doubt.

Advertisement

But what's the worse that could happen? Love dumps Denver in 2015 and the Nuggets fail to win the NBA championship for the foreseeable future, which would be no worse than what's happened every year since the franchise joined the league 38 years ago.

As draft night approaches June 26, the Timberwolves will have to think long and hard about trading Love, who is discouraged by Minnesota's inability to reach the playoffs during his six seasons in the league.

Danilo Gallinari, Ty Lawson and Faried were all savvy pick-ups by Denver, but the ceiling for each of the Nuggets' best current players is the All-Star Game, not superstar status.

The Nuggets refused comment Wednesday regarding specific interest in Love, but team management has repeatedly stressed it is willing to trade its first-round draft choice, a No. 11 pick, and do whatever is necessary to add an impact player this off-season.

"If we are involved in trade discussions," general manager Tim Connelly recently told me with a laugh, "I want you guys in the media to be the last to know."

OK, I get it. The only person Connelly needs to talk trade with is Minnesota coach, part-owner and hoops guru Flip Saunders.

Saunders liked Connelly so much when they worked together in Washington that he wanted to hire Connelly with the Timberwolves before Denver offered its job as general manager a year ago. Basketball is like any other business. Solid relationships help deals get done.

It has been reported the Celtics have dangled their picks at No. 6 and No. 17 in the 2014 draft, a future first-rounder and young veterans Jared Sullinger and Olynyk to Minnesota. Sorry, but that's a bunch of junk, primarily because as Boston executive Danny Ainge well knows after working out draft prospects, there's no guarantee a team that picks sixth will land a better player than the rookie selected 11th.

For starters, the Nuggets could trump Boston by offering Faried, among 28 players picked to the USA men's national team pool for 2014-16. Sweeten the deal with the No. 11 pick in the first round. The trade could meet league requirements for approval by adding Wilson Chandler and J.J. Hickson to the mix. Saunders and Connelly have the solid relationship to revamp the deal as needed.

Is it a pipe dream to think the Nuggets could not only make the playoffs but do damage in the playoffs with a Big Three of Love, Gallinari and Lawson? Let the rest of the rotation be filled out by Timofey Mozgov, JaVale McGee, Randy Foye, Evan Fournier and Nate Robinson.

That would be a Denver roster even a free-agent star might think had a chance to be a contender.